Performance of Different Lettuce (Lactuca Sativa L.) Varieties Using Two Commercialized Hydroponic Solutions

Abstract

In this study, the performance of different lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) varieties using two commercialized hydroponic solutions was investigated. Specifically, it aimed to 1) evaluate the suitability of growing different lettuce varieties using two different hydroponic nutrient solutions and 2) determine the effect of these nutrient solutions using three varieties of lettuce on the agronomic characteristics and its components parameters of lettuce, such as plant height (cm), number of leaves, length of roots (cm), average weight per plant (g), fresh biomass (g) total yield (g), and cost and return analysis. The factorial experiment in Completely Randomized was used with three replications to test the following treatments: Factor A – (Variety of Lettuce) V₁– ABC,  V₂ – DEF and V₃ – GHI while Factor B (Solutions), T₁ – Solution A and T₂ – Solution B. Based on the results of the study, among the three (3) varieties tested, V₂ (DEF) obtained the heaviest weight of total yield and the average length, average height, and fresh biomass. In contrast, V₃ (GHI) obtained the most number of leaves and longest length of roots. On the other hand, among the nutrient solutions, solution A produced the tallest, most number of leaves, longest length of roots, and heaviest fresh weight while solution B produced the most number of leaves.